Systems and methods of providing communications services

ABSTRACT

An IP telephony system allows a user to register a telephony device that receives its native telephony service from a different telephony service provider as an extension telephone. The user can then place calls through the IP telephony system using the extension telephone. Such calls may or may not be established using the extension telephone&#39;s native telephony service provider.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.13/244,872, which was filed Sep. 26, 2011, and a continuation-in-part ofapplication Ser. No. 13/244,827, filed Sep. 26, 2011, both of whichclaim priority to the filing dates of Provisional Application No.61/512,265, filed Jul. 27, 2011, and Provisional Application No.61/529,742, filed Aug. 31, 2011. The contents of all of thoseapplications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention is related to Internet protocol (IP) telephony systemsthat allow users to place and receive telephone calls, and to send andreceive text and video messages via data packets that are communicatedover a data network.

Presently, there are many IP telephony systems that provide telephonyservices to their users. Typically, a user will register with an IPtelephony system to obtain telephony services at their residence orbusiness. As part of the registration process, one or more of the user'stelephony devices in their home or business are registered with the IPtelephony system.

When the user wishes to place a call or send a text or video message,the user's telephony device contacts a server or a gateway maintained bythe IP telephony system over a public and/or private data network. Theserver or gateway then acts to provide the user with the requestedcommunications services.

IP telephony systems can provide the same types of communicationsservices as traditional telephony service providers that operate througha publically switched telephone network (PSTN), but at significantlylower costs. For this reason, many people have switched theirresidential and business telephony service provider from a traditionalPSTN-based telephony services provider to an IP telephony serviceprovider.

Many users also have a separate mobile or cellular telephone in additionto their residential and business telephones. Although it would bedesirable to utilize an IP telephony service provider to obtain certaintypes of communications services on mobile telephones, doing so is ofteninconvenient.

Generally, the only way to place international long distance telephonecalls through an IP telephony service provider using a mobile telephoneis to pre-pay for an IP telephony service that is separate and distinctfrom the carrier that provides the regular native telephony service tothe user's mobile telephone. Once the user has prepaid for a certainamount of minutes, in order to place a telephone call using the IPtelephony service, the user must engage in a cumbersome dialingprocedure. In order to use the IP telephony service, the user may needto remember a username or account number, as well as a PIN or password.

Thus, although it is possible to obtain lower cost IP telephony serviceson a mobile telephone, it is not convenient or quick to place callsthrough the service. Further, the user must engage in a separatefinancial transaction to obtain minutes of call time on the IP telephonyservice. Also, if the user has an account with an IP telephony servicethat is left with only a few minutes of talk time, the user may chooseto not use the remaining minutes, meaning some of the money spent toacquire minutes of talk time on the IP telephony system will be lost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a communications environment including variouselements which are associated with an Internet protocol (IP) telephonysystem operating in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of various elements of a processor that forms partof a IP telephony system;

FIG. 3 is block diagram illustrating selected elements of an IPtelephony system that is capable of providing telephony services to atelephony device that is native to another telephony system;

FIG. 4 illustrates elements of a software application that may bepresent on an extension telephony device;

FIG. 5 is diagram illustrating steps of a method of providing telephonyservices to a telephone that is native to a first telephony system withelements of a second telephony system;

FIG. 6 is diagram illustrating steps of a method of assigning a localtelephone number within a first country that a user within the firstcountry can dial to be connected to a different telephone number in asecond country;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating steps of a method that would beperformed by software running on a smartphone or a computer that isacting as an extension telephony device to place a telephone call;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating steps of a method that would beperformed by an extension operations unit of an IP telephony system toconnect a smartphone or a computer acting as an extension telephonydevice to a called party;

FIG. 9 illustrates steps of a method performed by elements of an IPtelephony system to establish a telephony communication for an extensiontelephony device;

FIG. 10 illustrates steps of a method performed by a softwareapplication on an extension telephony device to establish a telephonycommunication for an extension telephony device;

FIG. 11 illustrates steps of a method performed by elements of an IPtelephony system to connect an extension telephony device to an ongoingtelephony communication;

FIG. 12 illustrates steps of a method performed by an extensiontelephony device to join an ongoing telephony communication;

FIG. 13 illustrates steps of a method performed by elements of an IPtelephony system to determine which calling party identifier to use incaller ID information; and

FIG. 14 illustrates steps of a method performed by a softwareapplication of an extension telephony device to determine which callingparty identifier to use in caller ID information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description of preferred embodiments refers tothe accompanying drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments of theinvention. Other embodiments having different structures and operationsdo not depart from the scope of the present invention.

The technology is related to telephony systems generally. The technologyencompasses systems and methods of providing communications services toa user's telephony device that is native to a first telephony systemthrough a second telephony system. Preferably, the second telephonysystem is an IP based telephony system and is distinct from the firsttelephony system.

In the following description, the terms VOIP, VoIP (Voice over IP)system, VOIP telephony system, IP system and IP telephony system are allintended to refer to a system that connects callers and that deliversdata, text and video communications using Internet protocol datacommunications.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a communications environment 100 is providedto facilitate IP enhanced communications. An IP telephony system 120enables connection of telephone calls between its own customers andother parties via data communications that pass over a data network. Thedata network is commonly the Internet 110, although the IP telephonysystem may also make use of private data networks. The IP telephonysystem 120 is connected to the Internet 110. In addition, the IPtelephony system 120 is connected to a first publicly switched telephonenetwork (PSTN) 130 via a gateway 122. The first PSTN 130 may also bedirectly coupled to the Internet 110 through one of its own internalgateways. Thus, communications may pass back and forth between the firstIP telephony system 120 and the PSTN 130 through the Internet 110 via agateway maintained within the PSTN 130.

The gateway 122 allows users and devices that are connected to the PSTN130 to connect with users and devices that are reachable through the IPtelephony system 120, and vice versa. In some instances, the gateway 122would be a part of the IP telephony system 120. In other instances, thegateway 122 could be maintained by a third party.

Customers of the IP telephony system 120 can place and receive telephonecalls using an IP telephone 108 that is connected to the Internet 110.Such an IP telephone 108 could be connected to an Internet serviceprovider via a wired connection or via a wireless router. In someinstances, the IP telephone 108 could utilize a cellular telephonesystem to access the Internet 110.

Alternatively, a customer could utilize a normal analog telephone 102 awhich is connected to the Internet 110 via a telephone adapter 104. Thetelephone adapter 104 converts analog signals from the telephone 102 ainto data signals that pass over the Internet 110, and vice versa. Also,as illustrated in FIG. 1, multiple analog telephone devices 102 a, 102 band 102 c could all be coupled to the same telephone adaptor 104. Analogtelephone devices include but are not limited to standard telephones anddocument imaging devices such as facsimile machines. A configurationusing a telephone adapter 104 is common where all of the analogtelephone devices 102 a, 102 b and 102 c are located in a residence orbusiness, and all of the telephone devices are connected to the sametelephone adapter. With this type of a configuration, all of the analogtelephone devices 102 a, 102 b, 102 c share the same telephone numberassigned to the telephone adaptor 104. Other configurations are alsopossible where multiple communication lines (e.g., a second telephonenumber) are provisioned by the IP telephony system 120.

In addition, a customer could utilize a soft-phone client running on acomputer 106 to place and receive IP based telephone calls, and toaccess other IP telephony systems (not shown). In some instances, thesoft-phone client could be assigned its own telephone number. In otherinstances, the soft-phone client could be associated with a telephonenumber that is also assigned to an IP telephone 108, or to a telephoneadaptor 104 that is connected to one or more analog telephones 102.

A third party using an analog telephone 132 which is connected to thePSTN 130 may call a customer of the IP telephony system 120. In thisinstance, the call is initially connected from the analog telephone 132to the PSTN 130, and then from the PSTN 130, through the gateway 122 tothe IP telephony system 120. The IP telephony system 120 then routes thecall to the customer's IP telephony device. A third party using acellular telephone 134 could also place a call to an IP telephony systemcustomer, and the connection would be established in a similar manner,although the first link would involve communications between thecellular telephone 134 and a cellular telephone network. For purposes ofthis explanation, the cellular telephone network is considered part ofthe PSTN 130.

In addition, mobile computing devices which include cellular telephonecapabilities could also be used to place telephone calls to customers ofthe IP telephony system. A mobile computing device 136, as illustratedin FIG. 1, might connect to the PSTN 130 using its cellular telephonecapabilities. However, such devices might also have the ability toconnect wirelessly via some other means. For example, a mobile computingdevice 136 might communicate with a wireless access point 138 whichconnects the mobile computing device 136 directly to a data network,such as the Internet 110. In this instance, communications between themobile computing device 136 and other parties could be entirely carriedby data communications which pass from the mobile computing device 136directly to a data network 110. Of course, alternate embodiments couldutilize any other form of wireless communications path to enablecommunications.

Users of the IP telephony system 120 are able to access the service fromvirtually any location where they can connect to the Internet 110. Thus,a customer could register with an IP telephony system provider in theU.S., and that customer could then use an IP telephone 108 located in acountry outside the U.S. to access the services. Likewise, the customercould also utilize a computer outside the U.S. that is running asoft-phone client to access the IP telephony system 120.

FIG. 1 also illustrates that a second IP telephony system 140 mayinteract with the first IP telephony system 120 via the Internet 110.For example, customers of the second IP telephony system 140 may placecalls to customers of the first IP telephony system 120. In thatinstance, assets of the second IP telephony system 140 interact withassets of the first IP telephony system 120 to setup and carry thetelephone call. The same basic thing could happen if customers of thefirst IP telephony system 120 place calls to customers of the second IPtelephony system 140.

FIG. 1 also illustrates a second PSTN 150 that is coupled to an analogtelephone 152 and a cellular telephone 154. The second PSTN 150 may alsobe directly coupled to the Internet 110 through one of its own internalgateways. Thus, communications may pass back and forth between the firstIP telephony system 120 and the second PSTN 150 through the Internet 110via a gateway maintained within the second PSTN 150. Calls fromcustomers of the first IP telephony system 120 may be routed to theanalog telephone 152 or the cellular telephone 154 through the secondPSTN 154.

For purposes of the following description, we will assume that the firstPSTN 130 is located in a first country, and that the second PSTN 140 islocated in a second country. Likewise, the analog telephone 132 andcellular telephone 134 coupled to the first PSTN 130 are located in thefirst country, whereas the analog telephone 152 and cellular telephone154 coupled to the second PSTN 150 are located in the second country.

FIG. 2 illustrates elements of a computer processor 250 that can be usedas part of the IP telephony system 120 to accomplish various functions.The IP telephony system 120 could include multiple processors 250located at various locations in the system, along with their operatingcomponents and programming, each carrying out a specific or dedicatedportion of the functions performed by the IP telephony system 120.

The processor 250 shown in FIG. 2 may be one of any form of a generalpurpose computer processor used in accessing an IP-based network, suchas a corporate intranet, the Internet or the like. The processor 250comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 252, a memory 254, and supportcircuits 256 for the CPU 252. The processor 250 also includes provisions258/260 for connecting the processor 250 to customer equipment, toservice provider equipment, to an IP network or gateways, as well aspossibly one or more input/output devices (not shown) for accessing theprocessor and/or performing ancillary or administrative functionsrelated thereto. The provisions 258/260 are shown as separate busstructures in FIG. 2; however, they may alternately be a single busstructure without degrading or otherwise changing the intendedoperability of the processor 250.

The memory 254 is coupled to the CPU 252. The memory 254, orcomputer-readable medium, may be one or more of readily available memorysuch as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), floppy disk,hard disk, flash memory or any other form of digital storage, local orremote, and is preferably of non-volatile nature. The support circuits256 are coupled to the CPU 252 for supporting the processor in aconventional manner. These circuits include cache, power supplies, clockcircuits, input/output circuitry and subsystems, and the like.

A software routine 262, when executed by the CPU 252, causes theprocessor 250 to perform processes of the disclosed embodiments, and isgenerally stored in the memory 254. The software routine 262 may also bestored and/or executed by a second CPU (not shown) that is remotelylocated from the hardware being controlled by the CPU 252. Also, thesoftware routines could also be stored remotely from the CPU. Forexample, the software could be resident on servers and memory devicesthat are located remotely from the CPU, but which are accessible to theCPU via a data network connection.

The software routine 262, when executed by the CPU 252, transforms thegeneral purpose computer into a specific purpose computer that performsone or more functions of the IP telephony system 120. Although theprocesses of the disclosed embodiments may be discussed as beingimplemented as a software routine, some of the method steps that aredisclosed therein may be performed in hardware as well as by a processorrunning software. As such, the embodiments may be implemented insoftware as executed upon a computer system, in hardware as anapplication specific integrated circuit or other type of hardwareimplementation, or a combination of software and hardware. The softwareroutine 262 of the disclosed embodiments is capable of being executed onany computer operating system, and is capable of being performed usingany CPU architecture.

In the following description, references will be made to an “IPtelephony device.” This term is used to refer to any type of devicewhich is capable of interacting with an IP telephony system to completea telephone call. An IP telephony device could be an IP telephone, acomputer running IP telephony software, a telephone adapter which isitself connected to a normal analog telephone, or some other type ofdevice capable of communicating via data packets. An IP telephony devicecould also be a cellular telephone or a portable computing device thatruns a software client that enables the device to act as an IPtelephone. Thus, a single device might be capable of operating as both acellular telephone and an IP telephone.

Moreover, certain devices that are not traditionally used as telephonydevices may act as telephony devices once they are configured withappropriate client software. Thus, some devices that would not normallybe considered telephony devices may become telephony devices or IPtelephony devices once they are running appropriate software.

The following description will also refer to telephony communicationsand telephony activity. These terms are intended to encompass all typesof analog and video telephone calls, regardless of whether all or aportion of the calls are carried in an analog or digital format. Theseterms are also intended to encompass data communications that areconveyed through a PSTN or VOIP telephony system, such as facsimiletransmissions, text messages, SMS messages, MMS messages, videomessages, and all other types of data communications sent by or receivedby a user. In other words, these terms are intended to encompass anycommunications whatsoever, in any format, which traverse all or aportion of a communications network or telephony network.

FIG. 3 illustrates elements of an IP telephony system 120. The IPtelephony system 120 includes a call routing engine 230. The callrouting engine 230 provides instructions to servers of the telephonysystem 120 to help the servers establish communications channels betweena calling party and a called party. The call routing engine 230 alsohelps servers to deliver text messages, SMS messages, MMS messages andother forms of communications.

The IP telephony system 120 further includes a billing system 240. Thebilling system 240 uses information drawn from a call detail record(CDR) database 220, and possibly other sources, to determine how much tobill the users of the IP telephony system 120.

The IP telephony system 120 also includes a partner provider interfacemodule 250. This module communicates various items of information withpartner providers who help to complete telephone calls for the IPtelephony system 120 in various locations throughout the world. The samepartner providers may deliver incoming calls directed to users of the IPtelephony system 120. In some instances, the partner providers may feedinformation about calls to the IP telephony system 120 via the partnerprovider interface module 250. This information could be used by the IPtelephony system 120 to create CDRs for user calls.

The IP telephony system 120 provides communications services to itsregistered users through telephony devices that the users haveregistered with the IP telephony system. For example, and with referenceto FIG. 1, assume that a first user who has established an account withthe IP telephony system 120 has registered the telephone adaptor 104with the IP telephony system 120. The IP telephony system 120 will haveassigned a first telephone number to the first user's account, and callsto that telephone number will be routed to the telephone adaptor 104.

Likewise, assume that a second user who has an account with the IPtelephony system 120 has registered the IP telephone 108 with the IPtelephony system 120. The IP telephony system 120 will have assigned asecond telephone number to the second user's account, and calls to thatnumber will be routed to the IP telephone 108.

In the following description, and the appended claims, the IP telephonysystem 120 may be referred to as a telephony system that provides“landline type” telephony services. This description is intended todistinguish the IP telephony system from a traditional cellulartelephone services provider. However, this does not mean that the IPtelephony system is incapable of providing telephony services to amobile or cellular telephone. In fact, quite the opposite is true, aswill be explained below.

Next, assume that the first user also possesses the cellular telephone134. The cellular telephone 134 is registered with a separate, firstcellular telephony services provider. Also, assume that the second userpossesses the mobile computing device with a cellular telephone 136. Themobile computing device with a cellular telephone 136 is registered witha separate, second cellular telephony services provider.

An IP telephony system 120 as illustrated in FIG. 3 is capable ofproviding communications services to a user through both the IPtelephony device(s) that the user has registered with the IP telephonysystem 120, and through a telephony device that is registered with andobtains its native telephony service from a separate telephony servicesprovider. Thus, for example, the first user could obtain telephonyservices from the IP telephony system 120 using the first user'scellular telephone 134 that is registered with a first cellulartelephony services provider. Likewise, the second user could obtaintelephony services from the IP telephony system 120 using the mobilecomputing device 136 that is registered with a second cellular telephonyservices provider. Further, the IP telephony system 120 will bill thefirst and second users for telephone calls made using the cellulartelephone 134 and mobile computing device 136 as part of their regularmonthly bills from the IP telephony system 120.

The IP telephony system 120 allows a user to register additionaltelephony devices that can act as “extensions” of the user's main IPtelephony device(s). Thus, the first user can register his cellulartelephone 134 as an extension telephony device. While incoming telephonecalls directed to the first user's assigned telephone number willcontinue to be routed to the telephone adaptor 104, the first user canplace outgoing telephone calls through the IP telephony system 120 usinghis cellular telephone 134, even though the first user's cellulartelephone 134 is provided with its native telephony service by aseparate cellular telephony services provider. This allows the firstuser to take advantage of the relatively low rates for long distance andinternational calls that are offered by the IP telephony system 120.Those rates will typically be significantly lower than the rates thefirst user would be charged by the cellular telephony services provider.In addition, charges for calls made from the first user's cellulartelephone 134 that are routed through the IP telephony system 120 willsimply appear on the first user's regular monthly IP telephony systembill.

Likewise, the IP telephony system 120 allows the second user to registerhis mobile computing device 136 as an extension telephony device. Whileincoming telephone calls directed to the second user's assignedtelephone number will continue to be routed to the second user's IPtelephone 108, the second user can place outgoing telephone calls thoughthe IP telephony system 120 using his mobile computing device 136, eventhough the second user's mobile computing device 136 is provided withits native telephone service by a separate cellular telephony servicesprovider.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the IP telephony system 120 includes anextensions operating unit 200. The extensions operating unit 200 handlesthe registration of extension telephony devices, the setup andconfiguration of dialing aids, and the provisioning of telephonyservices to extension telephony devices.

An extension connection unit 202 is responsible for setting up calls foran extension telephony device. An authorization unit 204 is responsiblefor helping to register a telephony device as an extension of anexisting account with the IP telephony system 120. The authorizationunit 204 is also responsible for determining if a registered extensiontelephony device is authorized to receive certain telephony servicesfrom the IP telephony system.

An extension speed dial unit 205 can provide speed dial functions forextension telephony devices. A local to international number assignmentunit sets up special numbers that can be called in various countries toreach an extension telephony device.

A forwarding unit 208 operates to forward calls that are originallydirected to a customer's main telephone number to an extension telephonydevice that is associated with the user's account.

A quality checking unit 210 checks a quality of a data connection thatis established between the IP telephony system 120 and an extensiontelephony device via a data network. Calls may be connected to anextension telephony device in various different ways depending on thedetermined connection quality.

When a user wishes to register a telephony device as an extensiontelephony device, the actual registration process could be handled bythe authorization unit 204 in multiple different ways. In someinstances, a user could utilize a website interface to register atelephony device that receives its native telephony service from adifferent telephony service provider as an extension telephony device.In other instances, the user could call a special access numbermaintained by the IP telephony system 120. This would connect the userto an interactive voice response system that would allow the user toregister the extension telephony device. In other instances, a usercould call and speak to a customer service representative that wouldassist with the registration of the extension telephony device.

It still other instances, such as where the extension telephony deviceis a mobile computing device, the user can download a softwareapplication onto the mobile computing device, and the softwareapplication can handle the registration of the mobile computing deviceas an extension telephony device. The application might also provide auser interface that allows the user to place telephone calls from themobile computing device through the IP telephony system 120.

FIG. 4 illustrates elements of a software application or client 400 thatcould be loaded onto an extension telephony device. The software client400 includes a call connection unit 402 which establishes calls throughthe IP telephony system 120. A configuration unit 404 records certainpreferences that the user has selected. As will be explained in greaterdetail below, those preferences can include preferences about how callsare connected, and references relating to the information that ispresented to a called party in caller ID information. The softwareclient also includes a quality checking unit 406, which determines aquality of a connection that an extension telephony device is able toestablish with the IP telephony system 120 over a data network, or aquality of a connection to a wireless access point, or both.

Regardless of how it is accomplished, during the registration processthe IP telephony system 120 obtains a telephone number or some otherunique identifier associated with the extension telephony device. Inaddition, the authorization unit 204 may assign a unique personalidentification number (PIN) to the extension telephony device. The usermay be asked for the PIN when the user requests services through the IPtelephony system 120. In other instances, the same PIN associated withthe user's main account with the IP telephony system 120 might be usedto authorize the provision of communications services to the userthrough the extension telephony device.

With reference to the communications environment illustrated in FIG. 1,the first user, whose primary IP telephony device is the telephoneadaptor 104, would register his cellular telephone 134 as an extensiontelephony device. During the registration process, the authorizationunit 204 obtains the telephone number associated with the cellulartelephone 134. The authorization unit may also assign a PIN number thatthe user can provide when requesting communications services from the IPtelephony system 120 through the cellular telephone 134.

Likewise, the second user would register his mobile computing device 136as an extension telephony device. During the registration process, theauthorization unit 204 could obtain a telephone number associated withthe mobile computing device 136, or a unique identification numberassigned to the mobile computing device 136, or both. Here again, theauthorization unit 204 may assign a PIN number to the mobile computingdevice 136 that the second user would provide to obtain communicationsservices from the IP telephony system 120 through the mobile computingdevice 136.

The IP telephony system 120 may allow a user to register one or apredetermined number of extension telephony devices without charge. Anycalls placed from the extension telephony device(s) would then incur thesame charges as calls made from the user's primary IP telephony device.If the user places a call with an extension device to a telephone numberthat is part of an unlimited calling plan, no additional charges wouldapply. If a call is placed with an extension telephony device to atelephone number that would incur a per minute charge, the same rateapplies to calls made from the extension telephony device that wouldapply to calls made from the user's primary IP telephony device.

If the user wants to register additional extension telephony devicesbeyond the number that can be registered for free, the IP telephonysystem 120 may charge the user a monthly re-occurring charge for eachadditional extension device. Paying the monthly re-occurring chargewould then entitle the user to obtain communications services throughthe extension telephony device at the same rates the user would becharged for communications services provided to the user through hisprimary IP telephony device. Alternatively, the user may be providedwith the option of registering additional extension telephony deviceswithout the need to pay a monthly re-occurring charge if the userinstead pays per minute fees for calls placed from the additionalextension telephony devices.

Also, the IP telephony system 120 could offer the user different pricingoptions for communications services provided to the user through anextension telephony device than for communications services provided tothe user through the user's primary IP telephony device. Regardless, theuser would continue to receive one monthly bill for charges incurred forcommunications services provided to the user through the user's primaryIP telephony device and through the user's extension telephony devices.

The IP telephony system 120 could also allow a master account holder tospecify a maximum allowable monthly spending limit for each extensiontelephony device. The master user could set and change those spendinglimits by interacting with the authorization unit 204 via a web portal,through an interactive voice response system, or using an applicationloaded on a mobile computing device. Alternatively, the master usercould speak with a customer service representative to have the maximumspending limits set or changed.

When a user wishes to place a call from an extension telephony devicevia the IP telephony system 120, the call could be established in any ofmultiple different ways.

If the extension telephony device has a software client provided by theIP telephony system, and the extension telephony device is able toestablish a data connection to a data network, such as the Internet, viaa wireless access point, the call can be established without making useof the extension telephony device's native telephony service. Instead,the software client contacts the extension connection unit 202 of the IPtelephony system 120 over the data network to request the setup of acall. The extension connection unit 202 then sets up a VOIP session tothe extension telephony device over the data connection, and places anoutgoing call to the requested party. The two calls are then effectivelybridged together.

In instances where a software client on an extension telephony devicecannot establish a data connection to the extension connection unit 202of the IP telephony system 120 via a wireless access point, it maynevertheless be possible to establish the data connection via a cellulardata service provided by the extension telephony device's nativetelephony service provider. In that case, the extension connection unitcould still set up a VOIP session to the extension telephony device overthe cellular data connection, and place an outgoing call to therequested party. The two calls are then effectively bridged together.

In instances where a software client on an extension telephony devicecannot establish a data connection to the extension connection unit 202,or in instances where the extension telephony device does not have theability to run a software client, it is still possible to setup a callthrough the IP telephony system 120. This is accomplished by placing acall to an access telephone number maintained by the IP telephonysystem. The call could be placed using the extension telephony device'snative telephony service provider. Once connected to the IP telephonysystem 120, the extension telephony device can request that the IPtelephony system 120 place an outgoing call that is connected to theextension telephony device. This type of a connection method isillustrated in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates the steps of a method 500 that would be performed byelements of the IP telephony system 120 to setup an outgoing call froman extension telephony device. The user places a call to a local accesstelephone number or to a toll free access number from a registeredextension telephony device. The method begins and proceeds to step S502,where the call is received by the extension connection unit 202 of theIP telephony system 120 illustrated in FIG. 3.

The extension connection unit 202 obtains the telephone number of theextension telephony device through the caller ID information provided aspart of the incoming call. In some instances, the extension connectionunit 202 may obtain a unique ID number associated with the extensiontelephony device, or the extension connection unit 202 may request theuser to input a unique identification number. The telephone number orunique identification number associated with the extension telephonydevice will be recognized because the user will have already registeredthe extension telephony device.

In step S504, the extension connection unit 202 asks the user to providea PIN that is associated with the extension telephony device, or withthe user's main account with the IP telephony system. This informationcould be provided to the extension connection unit in multiple differentways. It could be provided by the user pressing buttons on a keypad ofthe extension telephony device. Alternatively, the user might speak theinformation. In other instances, such as where an application is runningon a mobile computing device, a query could be sent to an applicationrunning on the device, and the application could automatically providethe PIN information without further user intervention. Regardless, theextension connection unit 202 would acquire the information, and/orinterpret any spoken responses using speech recognition assets.

In alternate embodiments, the provision of a PIN is not required.Instead, the caller ID information is used to verify the identity of theparty.

In step S506, the extension connection unit 202 verifies that thecalling party is authorized to place a call through the IP telephonysystem 120 using the extension telephony device. This would likelyinclude interacting with the authorization unit 204 to verify that theobtained telephone number/unique identification number of the extensiontelephony device and the obtained PIN information match the informationstored in the authorization unit 204.

Assuming the obtained information is verified, and the user isauthorized to place a call through the IP telephony system 120 with theextension telephony device, in step S508 the extension connection unit202 obtains the telephone number the user would like to call. This couldoccur in multiple different ways.

In a simple embodiment, the extension connection unit 202 prompts theuser for the telephone number, and the user enters the telephone numberusing a keypad of the extension telephony device. The user might alsospeak the number, and the extension connection unit 202 would utilizespeech recognition assets to interpret the user's spoken response.

In other instances, the user might be able to access a speed dial systemthat has been created for the user's main account with the IP telephonysystem 120, or which has been specifically created for the extensiontelephony device. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates that an extensionspeed dial unit 205 may be a part of the extension operations unit 200of the IP telephony system 120.

A user could configure the extensions speed dial unit 205 so thatmultiple pre-stored telephone numbers correspond to predeterminednumbered options for each extension telephony device. When a user callsa local access number with an extension telephony device, the extensionconnection unit 202 will determine the identity of the extensiontelephony device. The user could make a telephone number selection fromthe predetermined list maintained for that extension telephony device inthe extension speed dial unit 205.

In more complex embodiments, the access number that was originallydialed by the user may be tied to a particular destination telephonenumber. If that is the case, then simply by virtue of the access numberdialed by the user, the extension connection unit 202 will know whattelephone number the user is attempting to reach. This concept isdiscussed in more detail below.

If the user is reaching the extension connection unit 202 from a mobilecomputing device that is running an application provided by the IPtelephony system 120, the application may allow the user to easilyselect a telephone number from a contact list maintained on the mobilecomputing device. The application would then forward the telephonenumber on to the extension connection unit 202.

Once the extension connection unit 202 has obtained the telephone numberthe user wishes to reach, in step S510 the extension connection unit 202causes a telephone call to be setup to the desired telephone numberusing normal IP telephony system assets, as is well known to those ofordinary skill in the art. In some instances, the telephone call will beestablished such that the called party telephony device receives callerID information identifying the extension telephony device as the callingparty. In other instances, the caller ID information may reflect thetelephony number associated with the user's main account with the IPtelephony system as the calling party. These options are discussed ingreater detail below.

The IP telephony system 120 will create a CDR for the call, and the CDRwill be updated, finalized and stored at the completion of the call. TheCDR will later be used to bill the user for the call placed through theextension telephony device. For this reason, the CDR may include a fieldthat indicates that the call was placed through a particular registeredextension telephony device.

Once the call has been setup by the IP telephony system 120, the serverthat originally establishes the call may conduct an optional calltransfer in step S412. The call transfer would allow the call signalingto proceed more directly between the extension telephony device and thecalled telephony device. When a call transfer is conducted, it wouldfree up assets of the IP telephony system 120 for other uses.

In some embodiments, the user's extension telephony device may be amobile computing device that is running an application provided by theIP telephony system 120. In such an embodiment, once a call isestablished to the extension connection unit 202, the application maysend information to the extension connection unit that includes thetelephone number of the extension telephony device, a unique identifierassigned to the user's extension telephony device, and/or a PIN number.Thus, a software application on an extension telephony device couldautomate the performance of certain steps illustrated in FIG. 5.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the IP telephony system 120 canassign a local access number for a user to correspond to a number thatthe user frequently calls from his extension telephony device. Forpurposes of explanation, and with reference to FIG. 1, assume that thefirst user frequently uses his cellular telephone 134 to call hismother, who has analog telephone 152 in a different country. The firstuser has already registered his cellular telephone 134 as an extensiontelephony device with the IP telephony system 120. The first user canrequest that the IP telephony system assign a local access number tocorrespond to the telephone number assigned to his mother's analogtelephone 152. Steps of a method to accomplish this assignment areillustrated in FIG. 6. The steps illustrated in FIG. 6 would beperformed by elements of the IP telephony system 120.

The method 600 begins when the first user requests that a local accessnumber be assigned to his mother's telephone number. This request wouldbe received by the local to international telephone number assignmentunit 206 of the extensions operation unit 200 of the IP telephony system120, as shown in FIG. 3. The first user could interact with the local tointernational telephone number assignment unit 206 in multiple differentways. The first user could utilize a web interface, an interactive voiceresponse system available through an access number, or the first usercould speak with a customer service representative. If the first user'sextension telephony device is a mobile computing device, an applicationrunning on the mobile computing device could also be used to interactwith the local to international telephone number assignment unit 206.

The method begins and proceeds to step S602, where the local tointernational telephone number assignment unit 206 receives the requestfrom the first user. In step S604, the local to international telephonenumber assignment unit 206 obtains the telephone number the first userwishes to be assigned, which in this case is the telephone number of hismother's analog telephone 152. The local to international telephonenumber assignment unit 206 also obtains the identity of the party atthat telephone number, in this case, the first user's mother. In stepS606, the local to international telephone number assignment unit 206assigns a local access number that the first user can call to beconnected to his mother's analog telephone 152. This number is ideallyone that the first user can call from his extension telephony devicewithout incurring any long distance or toll charges.

In step S608, the local to international telephone number assignmentunit 206 initiates an outbound call to the first user's extensiontelephony device. The call will indicate that it has originated from theassigned local access number, and it will indicate that the call is fromthe first user's mother. When this information is captured by the firstuser's extension telephony device, it is easy for the first user tostore this information in a contact list on the first user's extensiontelephony device. Thus, the local access number is communicated to thefirst user in an easy and convenient manner. In step S610, the outboundcall is then terminated.

Once this process has been conduced, the first user can simply call theassigned local access number. When the call is received by the extensionconnection unit 202, the extension connection unit 202 will know boththe local access number that was called, and the telephone number or IDnumber of the first user's extension telephony device. This will allowthe extension connection unit 202 to determine the number that the firstuser wishes to call. The extension connection unit 202 may then ask thefirst user for the PIN number assigned to the first user's extensiontelephony device to ensure that the user's is authorized to make thecall through the IP telephony system. As soon as the user provides thePIN, the call would be connected. In some embodiments, obtaining the PINmay not occur. In still other embodiments, a software application on theuser's extension telephony device may automatically provide the PIN.

As mentioned above, in some instances a user could place a call from anextension telephony device that is a smartphone or a computer or aportable computing device running appropriate software. In theseinstances, some or all of the communications required to inform theextension operation unit 200 of the called party's telephone number, theuser's account information and a PIN number can be automated by thesoftware. The software might also make it easier for the user to inputor select a telephone number of the party the user is attempting toreach.

FIG. 7 illustrates steps of a method 700 that would be performed by anapplication on a smartphone or software on a computer in order to placea call while the smartphone or computer is acting as an extensiontelephony device. FIG. 8 illustrates steps of a method 800 that would beperformed by the extensions operation unit 202 of an IP telephony system120 to connect such an extension telephony device to a called party. Inthe following description, we will assume that the user is placing acall from a smartphone that is registered as an extension telephonydevice under a user's main account with an IP telephony system 120.However, the same basic steps would be performed if the user was placinga call from a computer or a portable computing device that is acting asan extension telephony device.

The method begins when a user decides to place a call using a smartphoneas an extension telephony device. The user loads and runs an applicationon the smartphone that automates many of the steps the user wouldotherwise have to perform under the methods described above. The methodbegins and proceeds to step S702, where the application receives anindication from the user as to who the user wishes to call. This couldbe accomplished in many different ways. The user could simply type inthe number the user wishes to call on a keypad of the smartphone.Alternatively, the application could cause a keypad to be displayed on atouch sensitive display screen on the smartphone, and the user couldenter the telephone number using the displayed keypad. In still otherinstances, the application could present the user with a list ofcontacts, and the user could select one of the contacts from the list.In this instance, the contact list could be a contact list that isstored on the smartphone through another separate application, or acontact list that has been input and maintained on the smartphone usingthe application that has been run by the user to place a call using thesmartphone as an extension telephony device. The actual data thatconstitutes the contact list could be stored on the smartphone itself,or it could be stored on a remote server that the smartphone is ableaccess via a data connection.

Once the application has obtained the telephone number of the calledparty, in step S704, the application establishes a data link with theextension connection unit 202 of the extension operations unit 200 ofthe IP telephony system 120, as illustrated in FIG. 3. This data linkcould be established using a cellular data channel or via a wireless orwired link to a public or private data network, such as the Internet.Regardless of how the data link is established, the data link allows theapplication on the user's smartphone to communicate with a server thatis part of the extension connection unit 202.

In step S706, the application informs the extension connection unit 202of the called party's telephone number. The application may also providethe extension connection unit 202 with the telephone number of theuser's smartphone, or a special identification number assigned to theuser's smartphone or to the application running on the user'ssmartphone. This information will allow the extension connection unit toidentify the user's smartphone as a registered extension telephonydevice.

The application may also automatically provide the extension connectionunit 202 with a PIN number that was assigned to the user or to theuser's smartphone or to the application loaded on the smartphone. ThePIN number is used to verify the identity of the user or the smartphonefor purposes of fraud prevention. In alternate embodiments, theapplication may require the user to enter or speak the PIN number, whichwould be another way of preventing an unauthorized user from placing atelephone call using someone else's smartphone.

In step S708, the application obtains a telephone number from theextension connection unit 202. Then, in step S710, the applicationcauses the smartphone to call the telephone number it received from theextension connection unit 202. As will be explained in greater detailbelow, the user would then be connected to the called party.

Although the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 ultimately connects theuser to the called party through a telephone call placed to thetelephone number obtained from the extension connection unit 202, inalternate embodiments, the user may be connected to the called party insome other fashion. For example, the data link established between theuser's smartphone and the extension connection unit 202 could be used toestablish a VOIP call to the called party. In other instances, theapplication on the user's smartphone may establish a VOIP call to thecalled party in some other fashion, with the assistance of the extensionconnection unit 202.

FIG. 8 illustrates steps of a method 800 performed by the extensionoperations unit 200 of the IP telephony system 120 to connect asmartphone running an application and acting as an extension telephonydevice to a called party. The method 800 begins and proceeds to stepS802, where the extension connection unit 202 receives a communicationfrom the application on the user's smartphone indicating that theapplication is attempting to place a call to a called party. In stepS802, the extension connection unit 202 establishes a data link with theapplication on the smartphone. As noted above, this data link could beestablished in multiple different ways.

In step S804, the extension connection unit 202 receives several piecesof information from the application on the user's smartphone. First, theextension connection unit 202 receives either the telephone number ofthe user's smartphone or an identification number that was assigned tothe user's smartphone or to the application running on the user'ssmartphone. This information is used to verify the identity of the userand to verify that the smartphone is a registered extension telephonydevice. The telephone number of the user's smartphone may also be usedfor caller ID purposes when the call is placed to the called party.

The extension connection unit 202 also receives the telephone number ofthe called party that the user is attempting to reach. The extensionconnection unit 202 may also automatically receive a PIN number from theapplication on the user's smartphone. Alternatively, the application mayrequest that the user input a PIN number, and that information may thenbe provided to the extension connection unit 202. In still otherembodiments, the extension connection unit 202 may send a query to theuser, via the application on the user's smartphone, asking the user toinput a PIN number. In some embodiments, the user may have the option ofspeaking the PIN number. In those embodiments, the application on thesmartphone may interpret this spoken response, or the extensionconnection unit 202 may receive the audio of the spoken response, andthe extension connection unit 202 may be responsible for interpretingthe spoken response. In still other embodiments, a PIN may not berequired. Instead, the user's identity may be verified using caller IDinformation.

In step S806, the extension connection unit 202 verifies that the useris authorized to place the requested call. This would likely includeinteracting with the authorization unit 204 to verify that the obtainedtelephone number/unique identification number of the smartphone and theobtained PIN information match the information stored in theauthorization unit 204.

If the user is authorized to place the requested call, in step S808, theextension connection unit 202 provides the application on the user'ssmartphone with a telephone number that the smartphone can call to beconnected to the called party. At this point, the application on theuser's smartphone will place a call to the telephone number obtainedfrom the extension connection unit 202, as described above in connectionwith FIG. 6.

In step S810, the extension connection unit 202 receives the incomingcall from the user's smartphone. The extension connection unit 202recognizes the user's smartphone through caller ID information, and theextension connection unit 202 will already know, from the previousinformation exchange with the application on the smartphone, whattelephone number the user is attempting to call. In step S812, theextension connection unit 202 places an outgoing call to the calledparty, and in step S814, the extension connection unit 202 bridges theincoming and outgoing calls so that the user's smartphone is connectedto the called party.

In some embodiments, the extension connection unit 202 waits to receivethe incoming call from the user's smartphone before placing the outgoingcall to the called party. In other instances, the extension connectionunit begins to setup the outgoing call after it receives the calledparty's telephone number from the application on the user's smartphoneand before it receives the incoming call from the user's smartphone.This would result in a faster connection for the user.

As noted above, in alternate embodiments, the user's smartphone may beconnected to the called party in a different fashion. For example,because the extension connection unit 202 receives all required relevantinformation from the application on the user's smartphone via theinitial data connection, the extension connection unit 202 may setup aVOIP call to the called party, and that call may be bridged to theuser's smartphone using the same data connection that was used toreceive information from the application on the user's smartphone. Thiswould eliminate the need for the application to place a separate call tothe telephone number provided by the extension connection unit 202.

The application on a user's smartphone, or software running on acomputer or portable computing device, may provide additionalfunctionality beyond merely allowing the user to place a call. Forexample, the software may also allow a user to perform a rate lookup todetermine how much it will cost to place a particular call. Theapplication may also allow a user to access his account information withthe IP telephony system, and also edit or update that information. Theapplication may also allow a user to place a text message to particulartelephone number using the smartphone or computer as an extensiontelephony device.

In the examples given above, it was assumed that the user would alreadyhave an existing account with the IP telephony system, and that the userwould have already registered a primary IP telephony device with the IPtelephony system. In alternate embodiments, it is not necessary for auser to have a separate primary IP telephony device. Instead, a userwould setup a new account with the IP telephony system with theintention of only registering a telephony device that is alreadyregistered with and provided service by a separate telephony serviceprovider. This would allow the user to place calls from the telephonydevice using the native telephony service provider, or through the IPtelephony system. In many instances, the IP telephony system may be ableto provide the user with communications services at lower rates than thenative telephony service provider would charge.

Also, in the examples given above, the user places a telephone callusing an extension telephony device. However, the same basic procedureswould be used if a user wishes to obtain other types of communicationsservices from the IP telephony system via an extension telephony device.For example, the user could send SMS text messages, MMS messages andother forms of communications through the IP telephony system from anextension telephony device.

As explained above, in many instances, an application on a smartphone orcomputer that is acting as an extension telephony device can establish adata connection to the extension connection unit 202. The dataconnection can be used to establish a VOIP link to the extensiontelephony device. That VOIP link can be used to establish an outgoingcall from the extension telephony device, or to receive an incomingcall. However, conducting a good quality call in this fashion requiresthat the quality of the data connection between the extension telephonydevice and the extension connection unit 202 be sufficiently high tosupport a VOIP call.

FIG. 9 illustrates steps of a method 900 that would be performed byelements of an extension connection unit 200 to setup a call for anextension telephony device. During this method, the quality of a dataconnection between the extension operations unit 200 and the extensiontelephony device is determined during an initial exchange. The call isthen setup based on the determined quality.

The method 900 begins and proceeds to step S902 where the extensionconnection unit 202 receives a request from a registered extensiontelephony device to setup a new telephony communication. In step S904, aquality checking unit 210 of the extension operations unit checks thequality of a data connection between the extension operations unit 200and the extension telephony device. This could be accomplished bymonitoring how well data packets bearing the setup request werecommunicated from the extension telephony device to the extensionoperations unit 200. Also, when the setup request is received, theextension connection unit 202 could send an acknowledgement message backto the extension telephony device. The determination about the qualityof the data connection could also be based on how well data packetsbearing the acknowledgement message were communicated from the extensionconnection unit 202 to the extension telephony device.

In step S906, a check is performed to determine if the quality of thedata connection between the extension telephony device and the extensionoperations unit 200 is sufficiently high to support a VOIP call. If so,the method proceeds to step S908, and a VOIP link is established betweenthe extension connection unit 202 and the extension telephony device.That VOIP link is used for the outgoing call. If the check performed instep S906 indicates that the quality of the data connection is notsufficiently high to support a VOIP call, the outgoing call isestablished using the extension telephony device's native telephonyservice. In either case, the call can be established as explained above.

In alternate embodiments, the check of the quality of the dataconnection could be performed before a user actually requests that acall be established. For example, the quality check could be performedon a periodic basis. When quality checks are performed on a periodicbasis, so long as the last quality check was performed relativelyrecently, a call could be established immediately upon user request.

Also, in some embodiments, a quality check is performed upon theoccurrence of a triggering event. A triggering event could be when amobile telephony device establishes a new data connection or switches acellular connection from one base station to another. Other triggeringevents could include switching a WiFi transceiver on, switching acellular transceiver on, or simply turning the telephony device on.

FIG. 10 illustrates steps of a method 1000 that are performed by asoftware application 400 on the extension telephony device to accomplishthis operation. The method 1000 begins and proceeds to step S1002, wherea call connection unit 402 of the software application 400 sends acommunication setup request to the extension connection unit 202 over adata connection. In step S1004, a quality checking unit 406 of thesoftware application 400 checks the quality of the data connection. Asmentioned above, this could include monitoring how well data packetsbearing the setup request are communicated to the extension connectionunit 202 and/or how well data packets bearing an acknowledgement messageare communicated from the extension connection unit 202 back to theextension telephony device. In addition, the quality checking unit 406of the software application 400 may also check a quality of a connectionthat has been established between the extension telephony device and awireless access point that provides the extension telephony device withaccess to a data network. This information could be used alone, ortogether, with information about how well data packets are beingcommunicated back and forth between the extension telephony device andthe extension connection unit 202.

In step S1006, a check is performed to determine if the quality of thedata connection between the extension telephony device and the extensionoperations unit 200 is sufficiently high to support a VOIP call. If so,the method proceeds to step S1008, and a VOIP link is establishedbetween the extension connection unit 202 and the extension telephonydevice. That VOIP link is used for the outgoing call. If the checkperformed in step S1006 indicates that the quality of the dataconnection is not sufficiently high to support a VOIP call, the outgoingcall is established using the extension telephony device's nativetelephony service. In either case, the call can be established asexplained above.

The methods illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10 ensure that the quality of anoutgoing call from an extension telephony device remains high. Where thedata network can be used to carry the call, it is used to avoid makinguse of the extension telephony device's native telephony service. Thiscan minimize charges that the user must pay for use of the extensiontelephony device.

In the above methods, the data network connection that is establishedbetween the extension telephony device and the extension operations unit200 of the IP telephony system could be a data connection that isestablished through a wireless access point. Alternatively, the dataconnection could be one established through a cellular data link that isprovided as part of the extension telephony device's native telephonyservice.

The software application 400 on an extension telephony device includes aconfiguration unit 404, which can record various user preferences. Onesuch user preference is how calls to the extension telephony device areto be established. For example, the user could specify that theextension telephony device is not to establish an outgoing call throughthe IP telephony system 120 unless it can be accomplished via a dataconnection established through a wireless access point. This wouldprevent the software application from setting up a call through the IPtelephony system using the extension telephony device's native telephonyservice.

Alternatively, the user could specify that calls through the IPtelephony system can be established via a data connection through awireless access point, or via a cellular data channel provided as partof the extension telephony device's native telephony service. This wouldprevent the software application 400 from setting up a call usingminutes of a calling plan that is part of the extension telephonydevice's native telephony service.

The user may also specify that any type of connection could be used toestablish a call through the IP telephony system 120. This would givethe software application 400 maximum flexibility to setup the call usingthe channel that provides the best quality. However, the user may stillspecify a preference about which channel is used.

As mentioned above, a registered extension telephony device is intendedto be an extension of the user's basic telephony service provided by theIP telephony system 120. As such, it is also desirable to use anextension just like a normal extension telephone that is present in auser's residence or office. In other words, it is desirable to be ableto use both the user's primary registered telephony device and anextension telephony device in parallel, at the same time to allowmultiple parties to be connected to the same incoming or outgoingtelephony communication. For example, if a user received an incomingtelephone call in the user's residence, and the user answered the callwith the user's primary telephony device associated with the user'saccount, it would be desirable to allow a second person to connect tothat telephony communication using the extension telephony device.

FIG. 11 illustrates steps of a method 1100 that would be performed byelements of an IP telephony system to connect an extension telephonydevice to an ongoing telephony communication that has been establishedto the main telephony device registered for the user's account with anIP telephony system 120. The ongoing telephony communication could be anoutgoing call or an incoming call.

The method 1100 begins and proceeds to step S1102, where the extensionconnection unit 202 of an extension operations unit 200 of an IPtelephony system 120 receives a request from an extension telephonydevice to join an ongoing telephony communication that has beenestablished to a main telephony device that is associated with theuser's account with the IP telephony system 120. The request could bereceived from a software application on the extension telephony devicevia a data network connection.

In step S1104, the extension connection unit 202 establishes a telephonyconnection to the extension telephony device. This could be a VOIP linkestablished over a data connection, or a telephone link established overthe native telephony service of the extension telephony device. Any ofthe methods described above could be used to establish the telephonylink between the extension connection unit 202 and the extensiontelephony device.

In step S1106, the telephony link to the extension telephony device iseffectively bridged to the ongoing telephony communication that has beenestablished for the primary telephony device registered for the user'saccount. As a result, the user of the extension telephony device will beable to participate in the call. This type of a bridge arrangementessentially resembles a conference call.

If the user of the primary telephony device associated with the accounthangs up, the telephony communication may continue between the user ofthe extension telephony device and the third party. Alternatively, thetermination by the primary telephony device may act to terminate thecall with respect to all parties.

FIG. 12 illustrates steps of a method 1200 that would be performed bythe software application on an extension telephony device to accomplishthe same operations. The method 1200 begins and proceeds to step S1202,where the software application sends a request to join an ongoingtelephony communication to the extension connection unit 202. In stepS1204, the software application would act to establish a telephony linkbetween the extension telephony device and the extension connection unit202 using any of the methods which have been described above. Assumingthe telephony link is established, the extension connection unit 202would then bridge the telephony link to the ongoing telephonycommunication so that the user of the extension telephony device canjoin the ongoing telephony communication.

In order for the user of the extension telephony device to join anongoing telephony communication that has been established for theprimary telephony device associated with the account, the user of theextension telephony device must first be made aware of the existence ofthe telephony communication. This could occur because the user of theextension telephony device is co-located with the user of the primarytelephony device. Alternatively, each time that a call is establishedfor the primary telephony device, a message could be sent to thesoftware application on the extension telephony device that notifies ofthe existence of the telephony communication. The message could includeinformation about the identity of the third party to the communication.The software application could use this message and information toprovide a notification to the user about the telephony communication,and the software application could ask the user if the user wishes tojoin the telephony communication. If the user responds affirmatively,the methods illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12 would then be performed.

FIG. 3 illustrates that the extension operations unit 200 includes aforwarding unit 208. The forwarding unit 208 could act to forwardtelephony communications that are directed to the telephone number ofthe primary telephony device associated with an account to one or moreextension telephony devices associated with the account. The user couldmake use of a web interface, an interactive voice response system or theuser could interact with a customer service agent to configure how andwhen telephony communications are to be forwarded to an extensiontelephony device. The forwarding could be automatically activated anddeactivated based on the user's preferences.

For example, the user could specify that during business hours, alltelephony communications directed to the user's primary telephony devicein the user's residence are to be forwarded to a mobile telephone whichis registered as an extension telephony device. Alternatively, the usercould specify that during non-business hours, telephony communicationsdirected to a primary telephony device in the user's office are to beforward to a mobile telephony device that is registered as an extensiontelephone device. Any other sort of preferences could also be followedto automatically forward telephony communications to an extensiontelephony device.

If a user has multiple extension telephony devices, the user couldspecify that any forwarded communications are to be forwarded to allextension telephony devices simultaneously, or that the extensiontelephony devices are to be rung in a particular order until one of theextension telephony devices answers.

When a user places an outgoing call from an extension telephony device,the caller ID information that is sent to the called party could reflectany of several different calling party identifiers. The caller IDinformation could include a calling party identifier associated with theextension telephony device itself, such as the telephone number of theextension telephony device as established by the extension telephonydevice's native telephony service provider. Alternatively, the caller IDinformation could include a calling party identifier of a primarytelephony device associated with the user's account with the IPtelephony system.

A user of an extension telephony device could record a preference aboutwhich calling party identifier is to be used in the configuration unit404 of a software application 400 on the extension telephony device.Alternatively, such a preference could be recorded in an element of theextension operations unit 200. In still other embodiments, a user may bequeried each time that an outgoing call is placed from the extensiontelephony device, the query asking the user to specify which callingparty identifier is to be reflected in caller ID information sent to thecalled party.

FIG. 13 illustrates steps of a method 1300 that would be performed byelements of an extension operations unit 200 of an IP telephony system120 when an outgoing call is to be established for an extensiontelephony device. The method would begin and proceed to step S1302,where the extension connection unit 202 receives a communication setuprequest from an extension telephony device. In step S1304, the extensionconnection unit determines which calling party identifier to use incaller ID information that is to be sent to the called party. Thedetermination could be made by consulting preferences that have beenstored in the extension operations unit. Alternatively, the extensionconnection unit 202 could query a software application on the extensiontelephony device to determine which calling party identifier to use. Instill other instances, the calling party identifier that is to be usedmay be identified in the call setup request that was received from theextension telephony device.

In step S1306, the requested communication is established. During theestablishment of the communication, caller ID information that includesthe determined calling party identifier is sent to the called party. Thecall could be established for the extension telephony device using anyof the many methods described above.

FIG. 14 illustrates steps of a method 1400 that would be performed by asoftware application on an extension telephony device to setup anoutgoing telephony communication through the IP telephony system 120.The method begins and proceeds to step S1402 where the softwareapplication receives a request from a user to setup an outgoingtelephony communication. In step S1404, the software application queriesthe user about which calling party identifier to use. In step S1406, thesoftware application receives input from the user that indicates whichcalling party identifier to use. In step S1408, the software applicationsends a communication setup request to the extension connection unit 202of an extension operations unit 200 of an IP telephony system 120. Thecommunication setup request includes an indication of which callingparty identifier to use in caller ID information that is to be sent tothe called party. In step S1410, the software application interacts withthe extension connection unit 202 to establish the requested telephonycommunication.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

While the invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment,it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thedisclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

1. A method of establishing a telephony communication for a telephonydevice, comprising: receiving a telephony communication setup requestfrom a first telephony device that receives its native telephony servicefrom a first telephony service provider, the setup request beingreceived via a data network by a second telephony service provider; andestablishing the requested telephony communication between the firsttelephony device and a second telephony device by sending caller IDinformation to the second telephony device, such caller ID informationincluding a calling party identifier associated with the first telephonydevice, or a calling party identifier associated with an accountmaintained by the second telephony service provider.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the account maintained by the second telephony serviceprovider is also associated with the first telephony device.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising determining what calling partyidentifier should be included in the caller ID information sent to thesecond telephony device based on an account setting associated with thefirst telephony device.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receivedcommunication setup request includes an indication of the calling partyidentifier that should be included in the caller ID information that issent to second telephony device.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thecalling party identifier that is included in the caller ID informationsent to the second telephony device is a telephone number of the firsttelephony device.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the calling partyidentifier that is included in the caller ID information sent to thesecond telephony device is a telephone number associated with a customeraccount maintained by the second telephony service provider.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising receiving a communication from thefirst telephony device, the communication indicating which identifier touse as the calling party identifier in caller ID information that issent to a called telephony device when a telephony communication isestablished for the first telephony device.
 8. A system for establishinga telephony communication for a telephony device, comprising: means forreceiving a telephony communication setup request from a first telephonydevice that receives its native telephony service from a first telephonyservice provider, the setup request being received via a data network bya second telephony service provider; and means for establishing therequested telephony communication between the first telephony device anda second telephony device by sending caller ID information to the secondtelephony device, such caller ID information including a calling partyidentifier associated with the first telephony device, or a callingparty identifier associated with an account maintained by the secondtelephony service provider.
 9. A system for establishing a telephonycommunication for a telephony device, comprising: an extensionsconnection unit that receives a telephony communication setup requestfrom a first telephony device that receives its native telephony servicefrom a first telephony service provider, the setup request beingreceived via a data network by a second telephony service provider thatincludes the extensions connection unit, wherein the extensionsconnection unit establishes the requested telephony communicationbetween the first telephony device and a second telephony device bysending caller ID information to the second telephony device, suchcaller ID information including a calling party identifier associatedwith the first telephony device, or a calling party identifierassociated with an account maintained by the second telephony serviceprovider.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the account maintained bythe second telephony service provider is also associated with the firsttelephony device.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the extensionsconnection unit also determines what calling party identifier should beincluded in the caller ID information sent to the second telephonydevice based on an account setting associated with the first telephonydevice.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the received communicationsetup request includes an indication of the calling party identifierthat should be included in the caller ID information that is sent tosecond telephony device.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein the callingparty identifier that is included in the caller ID information sent tothe second telephony device is a telephone number of the first telephonydevice.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein the calling party identifierthat is included in the caller ID information sent to the secondtelephony device is a telephone number associated with a customeraccount maintained by the second telephony service provider.
 15. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the extensions connection unit receives acommunication from the first telephony device, the communicationindicating which identifier to use as the calling party identifier incaller ID information that is sent to a called telephony device when atelephony communication is established for the first telephony device.16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions storedthereon which, when executed by one or more processors of a firsttelephony device that receives its native telephony service from a firsttelephony service provider, cause the first telephony device to performa method of setting up a telephony communication, the method comprising:sending a telephony communication setup request from the first telephonydevice, the setup request being sent to a second telephony serviceprovider via a data network, the setup request indicating which ofmultiple calling party identifiers should be included in caller IDinformation that is sent to a second called telephony device when thetelephony communication is being established; and establishing therequested telephony communication by interacting with the secondtelephony service provider.
 17. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises receiving, froma user of the first telephony device, an indication as to which ofmultiple calling party identifiers should be included in caller IDinformation that is sent to a called telephony device when a telephonycommunication is being established for the first telephony device. 18.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein themethod further comprises: receiving, from a user of the first telephonydevice, an indication that the user wishes to establish an outgoingtelephony communication; querying the user as to which of multiplecalling party identifiers should be included in caller ID informationthat is sent to a called telephony device when the request telephonycommunication is being established; and receiving, from the user of thefirst telephony device, an indication of the calling party identifierthat is to be used.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 16, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, from a userof the first telephony device, an indication that the user wishes toestablish an outgoing telephony communication; and checking a settingmaintained in the first telephony device, the setting indicating whichof multiple calling party identifiers should be included in caller IDinformation that is sent to a called telephony device when a telephonycommunication is being established for the first telephony device.